Religious leaders condemn plan to burn Koran on Sept. 11

Ingrid Mattson of the Islamic Society of North America , Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union for Reform Judaism and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick attend an interfaith meeting on tolerance. as top Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other faith leaders from across the country brief media at the National Press Club on the outcome of an emergency interfaith meeting to address the "growing tide of fear and intolerance" that has emerged in the wake of the New York Muslim Community Center debate on September 7, 2010, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
(Jahi Chikwendiu)

The Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.

"I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," she said.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, said the faith leaders' meeting was set up two weeks ago, "when it started to become clear to us that things were getting out of control." Although the recent controversy has been "whipped up by a few people," she said, "I don't think it's going to go away quickly."

More than 9,000 people have joined a Facebook page called International Burn a Koran Day, which includes support for and criticism of the action.

Religious leaders and Muslim organizations met with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Tuesday to urge him to speak out against recent anti-Muslim incidents, such as the stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in New York, and to prosecute some suspects on a federal level.

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said that Holder "reiterated the department's strong commitment to prosecuting hate crimes."

Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy organization, said such actions are necessary to counteract a growing feeling of unease among Muslims in the United States.

"There is an increasing sense of fear and anxiety, even more than after 9/11," she said, adding that hostility that seemed to stay below the surface in recent years now "seems to have gone mainstream."

Gainesville, a city of 100,000, is bracing for a media onslaught this weekend because of the planned burning. Last year, when the Dove church posted a sign saying that "Islam is of the devil," faith leaders there largely ignored Jones and his small congregation.

This year, interfaith gatherings are planned for Wednesday and Friday at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, and some religious communities will read from the Jewish, Islamic and Christian scriptures on Saturday and Sunday.

Ramzy Kilic, regional director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa, said that he will participate in the interfaith events but that he thinks the best approach is to ignore Jones. "He just wants to provoke the Muslim community," he said. "Why give him attention? No one pays attention to the drunkard walking down the street."

Kilic said that although he appreciates the interfaith efforts, he wants to see more widespread condemnation of the planned event. "Let's say this was a Muslim burning a copy of the Bible - the country would be turned inside out," he said.

A request by Dove for an unspecific bonfire permit was denied because it went against city code, said Deputy Chief Tim Hayes of Gainesville Fire Rescue.

The outcry over the planned burning is similar to the Muhammad cartoon scandal that led to international protests in 2006, but there are some important differences, Muslim leaders said.

At that time, Khera said, "you had even Danish public officials who were defending the cartoonist. Here, I haven't seen any public official . . . come out in support of the Koran burning."

bahrampourt@washpost.com boorsteinm@washpost.com

Correspondent David Nakamura and special correspondent Javed Hamdard, both in Kabul, contributed to this report.